Hidden Azgeda
by Risulyn
Summary: Prime fiya will once again sweep across the earth, further culling the survivors of the human race. Staying hidden from the conflicts so far waged between Skaikru and Trikru, Mountain men, and A.L.I.E., and the other 13 nations, the people of the Shenandoah Compound may not know the end is coming again, but they're ready for it. Until the king of Azgeda arrives.
1. Chapter 1

A rock hurtles through the air, causing Jadoe to sidestep to the left and onto the bend of the trail that would take her out of range of her master's head of servants throwing radius. Mergo hated Jadoe. Hated that, in true Azgeda fashion, Jadoe hadn't been cast out when her eyes had lost their dark brown coloring and had gone silver. Mergo had assumed that Landi, Jadoe's mother, would lose favor with Gergoi for producing an inferior child and Mergo would step up as his favored, dropping Landi to head of servants. Or head of slaves, Jadoe thought with an inelegant snort, but only the slaves felt that way.

Jadoe rolled her eyes; Mergo was wildly favored for her prowess as a sexual partner but she had no "higher" training in skills Gergoi favored and she produced lumbering children with minimal intelligence. And females. Most were females and while many didn't care about gender, Gergoi did. Jadoe was Landi's only female child. She had three brothers before her and five after. Most likely another on the way. Life hadn't been so bad before she'd begun losing her eyesight, despite her being a female. Her father would occasionally dote on her and had been an active part of her education. That stopped when she'd started having vision problems when she was eight. Landi was a brilliant doctor and scientist, she'd slowed then stopped the loss but the treatment had discolored the iris's of her daughters eyes.

Some within their compound had been unsatisfied and had wanted Jadoe taken out of the gene pool; by that time, many had picked up the general thinking of those that lived topside. Gergoi hadn't wanted to upset his favorite mate and overruled their objections. Since he kept them living in comfort and maintained the peace his great, great grandfather had brokered with Azgeda years prior, they overlooked his particular quirk. Those that still had issues shut up quick when the generals came around. Much like Mergo, she was sought after in the bedroom.

Jadoe rolled her shoulders, settling the Azgeda clothes more comfortably and mentally shrugging off the past and things she could not change. Despite being a servant, she normally wore the pristine clothes her father preferred from the early 2000's and were deemed feminine. Jadoe was expected to wear a blouse, skirt, and loafers while she worked alongside her mother, on projects she was assigned by other scientists/doctors, or during her shifts at the clinic. When she was sent to scavenge or trade, she pulled on the leather pants and vest, heavy cloak, and knee high, soft soled boots favored by Ice Nation. She enjoyed working with her mother, but she loved being dressed as Ice Nation and savored her trips to the outside world. Her arm lifted to run her fingers across the tight braids along the side of her head and down, toying with the beads and feathers tucked within. They were pretty but they often caused her mild discomfort. Worth it though.

She glanced at the sky, noting the clouds, and silently cursed her luck. Weather wasn't something most of the compound cared about. Roughly half didn't bother to leave their underground home; scientists had long ago managed to cultivate an extensive network of forest in large, connected caves. If her people craved "nature" they simply had to walk for a bit to get to the safety of a cultivated forest. It teemed with animals that were harvested for their meat and wouldn't harm humans. Those that did leave the compound were predominantly servants taught to forage and slip the detection of the Azgeda. The last small group in their people were the traders like herself that would interact within the nations of the survivors topside to get supplies her people either couldn't make or simply could not reach reasonably.

Silver eyes scan the relatively quiet forest. She would need to make good time to the stables to pick up a horse and cart so that she could get to Polis and make her trades before dawn the following day. It was a tight run, but she was widely known for her shrewd bargaining and unwillingness to budge on price, shaving valuable time off her overall trip. Most no longer bothered trying to drive the price of their goods up unreasonably to begin with. Taking a deep breath, Jadoe picked up her pace, breaking into a long strided jog that would keep her energy levels up while still allowing her to make good time.

For the past few years, the Azgeda generals in conjunction with their queen had cleared out a radius around their compound, keeping both warriors and their people back, claiming it to be haunted by the ghosts of dead kings past. Though Geroi scoffed at the notion of such nonsense keeping the people back, Jadoe appreciated the relative freedom it had ultimately allowed them. Her pet project had been taking living samples of plants, a time consuming and tedious task, and transplanting them into their underground forest to cultivate diversity. At one time, certain herbs had been exceedingly hard to come by and claimed a bulk of the time designated to the foragers to find. Now those plants flourished and their stockpile of natural but effective medicines were higher than they'd ever been. More importantly to the scientist in Jadoe, it was sustainable.

Jadoe leapt over a log that must have fallen since the last time she'd come through and slowed to scan her surroundings more fully; she listened, reassured by the sound of animals making their typical noises, scanned the ground for any disturbance that indicated the possibility of a trap, and crouched down a bit as she ran. It was uncomfortable but she'd be a harder target to hit and the position protected major organs, giving her a chance to flee if need be if she did happen to receive a wound.

After about ten minutes, she straightened out. She'd be running in a small stream for another half an hour to help cover her tracks. There was a pact with Azgeda but the people were historically fickle and had an unfortunate need to conquer all in their direct vicinity. If the Ice Nation knew that there were horses in a bunker that was secure from radiation and was connected by a tunnel to the main compound, they'd take it in a heartbeat. Full lips turn down into a frown as the young woman's thoughts turn back to their tentative ally.

Her trip into Polis was meant to have happened last week, but Gergoi had been hesitant to send her out. News of the fall of the Ice Nation queen some months before had rapidly made its way to the compound right after it happened along with the information that her son, Roan, had succeeded her. After that, despite the regular visits of the men and women who trained and manipulated Azgeda's army, not other information was coming in from the outside world. There was a tension in the hardened men and women that had increased in the last few months, along with their visits. They were staying longer, brought their favored mates, offspring, and servants with them when they did.

From Jadoe's trips out, they knew that the Ice Nation commander had been challenged and doubted, had lashed out without any kind of control, and had ultimately died, leaving no Nightblood left to take on "the spirit" of other commanders. More foolish drivel, according to Gergoi, but it had left the humans of the various nations in an uproar. Jadoe splashed into the stream and felt her mouth draw down tighter. The water level was low for the time of year. She'd make a note in the logs about it.

And before the seizure by Ice Nation of control, there had been the odd killings that had happened without seeming reason between friends and family they hadn't been able to figure out. Then there were the people of the Ark that had fallen from the sky and tried to carve a living out within the forest between the nation peoples of the surface and the survivors in Mount Weather in the earth. Now Jadoe sneered. The "mountain men" Had sat, safe in their mountain for years, assuming they'd walk out one day and inherit all. Stupid bastards. Gergoi's father's father father had known the world would be radically different when they could finally leave their underground home and had developed a way of introducing higher, but still safe, levels of radiation into the lighting, giving their offspring a chance at being able to handle the ground when they eventually exited relative safety some fifty years later.

Jadoe sighed heavily. There was so much more that had happened recently that had thrown everything off balance. But still in favor of Gergoi. He preferred that his people remain predominantly in the same place, with the same allies, and out of the political shit storm that was plaguing our unwitting neighbors. Recent events had given those in favor of expanding out onto the surface some serious doubts, leaving political favor firmly in Gergoi's court. Adam as well. Her eyes rolled involuntarily. As the first born of her father's male children, he was being groomed to take over; Jax and Thom as well though they knew they were farther down the list.

Unlike their father, they were learning to run things jointly and they were doing well; mostly because they were more scientist like their mother than politician. Frederi, the fifth child, loved to play political games and often boasted about how invaluable he was as support staff to his brothers. Her only problem with the older trio was their often overbearing attitude toward women. Granted, now that Adam and Thom had mates that were much like their mother, they'd toned it down, they often reverted back to their stuck up ways with her. They never once tried to physically harm her, but they could be overbearing and their tongues were sharp; their offhand comments were bad. While in a temper, their insults left smarting mental wounds that lasted for a while.

She loved the damned bastards, but sometimes she wished she was mated to someone and had a household of her own to run. Though a few had tried to offer for her, and generously if she did think so herself, her father always turned the young men and women away. The one general who'd made a similar offer had also been denied, but though Gergoi had spent several days thinking the proposal over, he'd ultimately said no. Jadoe knew Landi had been aware of how badly Jadoe hadn't wanted that union. The younger woman strongly suspected that her mother had intervened, and heavily, on her behalf.

Jadoe surged up, out of the water and over the steep bank a few feet from the bunker housing the horses. No matter how hard she tried to focus on the future, the past kept seeming to drag her back. She'd mull over everything while she rode for a bit, most likely feel better for having done so, then pull herself together in time to do what little haggling was necessary before heading home.


	2. Chapter 2

The bunker containing the horses also housed a variety of other, mostly farm, animals, but was considered important because the Shenandoah Compound people's main mode of transportation was kept there. They had solar powered vehicles, but since the people of the different Kru nations didn't have them, Jadoe's people couldn't feasibly use them and still remain hidden. Jadoe knew some complained about not using the trucks and cars, but she could never understand why. Everything within the compound was within walking distance or if a person was working or had packages to be delivered, there were motorized carts to get them from point A to point B. Then there was the fact that a maximum of maybe twenty people ever traveled any distance outside their home to warrant the need to use them.

The gentle slope into the bunker blended well into its surroundings, large boulders and older trees shielded it from being easily observed, even close up. Thick ivy covered the grey colored palm plate. Jadoe pushed the heavy mass of vine and leaves out of her way so that her print could be scanned. The gentle humming and brief flash of pale yellow light let her know it was still working.

"Argh." Jadoe didn't care that she sounded like a bad sound effect from one of the positively ancient zombie flicks her siblings liked watching. The noise made her feel better and since she didn't have to explain that she was beginning to dislike the Shenandoah people to one of said people, she did it again. She shut up to keep from spooking Wreck-it, her favorite horse. He didn't like many people and though Jadoe was one of the few he'd rarely trick, she was still careful to double check that her saddle was snug and kept an eye on his ears; a good indicator of whether or not he'd give her sass for the day. Rekka neighed softly from the neighboring stall, so Jadoe reached over and gently stroked her muzzle.

The two animals got along well, so if Jadoe decided to take both and do a double haul...Jadoe bit her lip and mulled over the decision to do so. The next scavenger/trader on the list to go out was Nixa and she hated haggling. She'd rather scour the forest for things deemed necessary than deal with any of the Kru nation; if Jadoe did a double run, Nixa could merely scavenge and owe Jadoe a favor. The silver eyed woman loved collecting favors, a habit she'd picked up from the older men in her family, and had quite a few. She'd never really been willing to owe anyone; if she couldn't do it or acquire it herself, she'd do without. There were items she could get from Niylah, an isolated trader, and easily store in the bunker.

Then in two weeks, Nixa could get it after she foraged. Niylah was pretty understanding, if Jadoe could only do a quick stop now, she'd make up for it with a longer one the next time her run came up and she'd buy things that were strictly for her or her mother. Knowing she didn't have the time to kick the idea around indefinitely, Jadoe went with the gut feeling to do it. Wreck-it fidgeted as his rider prepped the other horse, but ultimately behaved himself, so Jadoe took it as a good sign. She wouldn't say she was overly superstitious, but her father often commented that she was given to "flights of fancy".

Landi scoffed back in his face when the subject came up. She was less willing to place her faith in Gergoi's god and more likely to follow her instincts. Landi firmly believed in women's intuition and would make both scientific and gut decisions. True, half her experiments didn't work, but it was her gut that led her to the eye drops that saved her daughter's sight and she was the best at delivering babies; she always seemed to know what was needed to keep both mother and baby alive and thriving. Given her mother's rather impressive track record, Jadoe tried to live like Landi.

Both horses ready to go, Jadoe grabbed a pouch of water, a single rations packet for her trip, a pair of long, curved swords and led her animals up into the fresh air. She mounted Wreck-it when she had the room and set a brisk pace towards Niylah's shop. It was always a pleasure to see the blond even if her father was a misogynistic ass. He was more often than not out gathering goods to stock their shop and according to his daughter on Jadoe's last visit, would be in the second month of his planned three month trip.

Bright morning light began to filter through the foliage of the forest. The heat of the day was going to be upon her by the time she got to Niylah's place. Jadoe scanned the trees and made another mental note for the traveling journal kept by the traders and foragers; the leaves were not as green and thick as they should have been. As she continued her travels, she noted that the roads were also more heavily traveled than normal and many were traveling with what were most likely heavily ladened carts. The deep ruts in the road and items that could be considered frivolous littered along the side, further compounded the feeling that there was some sort of mass move into Polis. Good in a way that she would be less recognized by more people but not without a downside. Supplies in the city would be more tapped out than usual.

Jadoe grinned for a second. Her run would come back light but knowing she'd be owed a substantial favor balanced it out.. Nixa's father controlled most of the cloth guild, which in turn was responsible for distributing anything that even remotely involved cloth and worked closely with those within the tanner's guild. Perhaps Jadoe could manage to finally get another decent cloak. Jackets were preferred by many when the compound transitioned into the pseudo winter that mimicked what was happening to the planet; since Jadoe went into the real cold and preferred to blend in as much as possible, she often wore a cloak. Her good cloak had been damaged though by one of the bigger predators left alive four outings ago and though she'd repaired it, no way she was going to spend precious credits having an apprentice in the cloth guild do it, it no longer looked quite as nice. When the members of the Kru nations saw her slightly damaged cloak, they assumed she had less and therefore offered her sub par items for trade. It was a pain in the ass. She'd use a favor to get a newer cloak and save herself some hassle later on down the road.

The ground leveled out in front of her and Wreck-it picked up his pace without any urging, Rekka following close behind. Jadoe had to keep better track of the road to avoid major ruts that would possibly damage an axle or cause a twisted leg on one of the horses. She passed only a few people heading towards Polis. None were Ice Nation; those that looked up to see her face quickly dropped their gazes when they caught site of the pale, slightly raised lines on her cheeks.

A person alone with two horses meant that person had supplies, which in this world was essentially wealth. The Azgeda scars and double blades strapped to her saddle, within easy reach, made her both a tempting and terrifying target. Jadoe had been trained since she was five on handling and safety with guns, as all children in the compound were, and then daggers, swords, and axe when she was ten. Carrying a weapon among the Kru nations was a death sentence if you didn't know how to use them. She was more comfortable with blades than guns, though she didn't let it show; she'd managed to attain a sharp shooter rating in both short range pistol training and long range rifle.

The path ahead split. Those she'd passed would go right to Polis while she took the left fork toward her fist stop. The cloak she pulled back to drape across her mount, hoping that some hint of a breeze would hit her. The path to Niylah's was more narrow and less used, so the ruts were random but shallow and the sides of the road dropped down steeply, so any breeze generated by the forward motion of the horse was nil. Shaking her back her thick, pin straight blond hair, she used a precious hair tie to pull it all back.

Glancing at the sky, her brows furrowed; despite the thick dark clouds hanging low, there was no tell tale smell of ozone saturating the air. There was also a lack of humidity that should have been present. The air should have been oppressive under such heavy cloud cover. "Something is so wrong right now." Wreck-it's ears flicked back at the sound of Jadoe's voice. What the hell could affect the weather?

Niylah's shop came into view and Jadoe sighed with relief. Perhaps the other woman would know what was going on; she was out of the way but it was wise to know what was going on around your home. The architecture always delighted Jadoe. There was nothing like it within the compound, squares and boxed shaped buildings were quick and practical in a bomb shelter the size of a small city. Over time, decorative features such as fountains and small parks had been added, but space was limited so there was only so much any given generation could do. The most random place you could be were the newer sections of forest that hadn't been planted in a grid.

The trading post also lacked concrete, made of cleverly curved and intricately carved wood, the outside was as warm and inviting as the inside. The exterior was simple and beautiful, at times blending into its surroundings while other times it dominated the small clearing. Inside was a cluttered, charming disaster that would drive many of the Shenandoah compound into a tizzy; everything had its place and cleanliness was godliness within its concrete, steel reinforced walls. Time and exposure to the homes and shops of the Kru nations had given Jadoe a sense of where things were located and the clutter had stopped bothering her a while ago.

Dismounting, she dropped lightly to the ground, running her fingers along the packed dirt. Horses, no big surprise, but what pulled her up short were the tire marks sunk into the earth. Skaikru were the only ones that had working vehicles and used them. Why were they all the way out here? Dread skittered it way up her spine, made her stomach clench and sweat to coat her palms. What the hell was going on?


	3. Chapter 3

The inside of the post is still; there's a fine layer of dust over everything. Niylah's quarters were trashed. Her sheets covered in blood, medical supplies scattered on almost every available flat surface, and all of her things were still generally where she normally kept them. What the hell was going on; fear pooled into the pit of her stomach. Jadoe dropped onto a clean corner of the bed and spread her legs wide so that she could lean forward and hang her head between her knees. After a few deep breaths, she stood and began to grab anything she could use to carry supplies out to her cart.

If she was overreacting, she'd owe Niylah so very much; not only for the goods, but for breaking trust. She might never get it back. That caused her to pause for a second. Drag in a deep breath before it shuttered out. She set aside her worry about what could possibly happen between her and Niylah. It took forty-five minutes for her to take the bulk of anything that could be used within the compound. Another fifteen to secure it all and she mounted up. She took a long look at the building she really liked and left.

The ride took a little longer going out than it took going in, as she guided the horses around the rougher parts of the road. She hit the fork between Polis and the Compound and made the split decision to try and gather as much as she could in the city. She'd never managed to spend her entire budget, had been allowed to keep the excess for other trips; she planned to spend it all.

Thunder rolled in the distance, but the air hadn't changed; it was still heavy, still hot and dry. It seemed as if it was prematurely dark, her mount was skittish, and it was all she could do not to turn around and go home. She knew to most she was being irrational, but she was almost positive that if she had any scientific equipment, it would validate her gut feeling. As she got closer to Polis, the storm that seemed to be rolling in unleashed more forks of lightning followed by deep rumbles of thunder. A mile out, Jadoe pulled up short, tipped her to the side. Under the now rapidly moving wind she could hear the roar of a crowd of people.

She sat for a bit, trying to figure out what was going on. Nothing came to her so she clicked her tongue and began moving forward, but a sudden deluge over the city and accompanying screams had her draw up short. What the fuck? Wreck-it tried to rear up, but Jadoe tightened her thighs and pushed her weight down, forcing the horse to calm. The woman shook her head. The supplies she had, she'd make do with. She carefully pulled back on the reins and began the arduous task of getting her spooked ride turned back towards the compound. She tethered him to a tree and got Rekka pointed in the right direction. The time it took caused her to grind her teeth in frustration.

She only made it a few feet when a desperate voice called out to her. Brow wrinkled, Jadoe twisted around and caught sight of a small group of people hauling a hand cart, running as fast they could towards her. One, a woman, was waving her arms, pulled ahead of the others and shouted for her to stop. The woman was close enough for Jadoe to see that she had the scars of Azgeda maring her pretty face.

" _Help us, the rain that burns is falling on Polis! We must get to Ice Nation lands. We must hurry to the formed stone houses."_ Jadoe stopped her mount and glanced at the sky. Rain that burned; sounded like acid rain and the only way that would happen, with the earth the way it currently stood, was radiation. The formed stone houses were buildings that were predominantly made of concrete and would be the safest place to hide from the rain.

" _Get yourselves onto the cart in front."_ Jadoe slid out of her saddle and jogged to the other three people. All female. Whoever these people were, they were about to be absorbed into the the compound. Acid rain meant things were going south again on the planet and her people would need more genetic diversity to make up for however long it took the earth to come back from the brink of destruction again. A small face peeked over the edge of the cart and Jadoe smiled. The little boy was adorable. A muffled noise had Jadoe looking at a tiny bundle strapped to a raven haired woman's back.

One or more of these women already proved they could have children. They were all bleeding lightly, small pocked wounds on their exposed skin most likely attesting to their claims of acid rain. Hopefully, their bodies hadn't been subjected to more radiation than it could handle; the less medical attention they needed, the better they'd be received by her father. When Jadoe looked over into the edge of their cart, she groaned.

One woman was able to grab all their belongings. What was left in the cart was a badly damaged man. A man that was probably two hundred pounds of unconscious, dead weight muscle. Jadoe tried to stop the two women pulling their dead weight closer to her larger cart. " _You need to leave him. He's heavily damaged and will slow us down. Look at the clouds. We probably won't be able to outrun it with just us and the supplies I have."_ In fact, she was almost positive she could see the leading edge of the acid rain less than a mile from them. The women ignored her, two with children already in the cart with Niylah's supplies while the last two maneuvered their cart so that their back end was to Jadoe's. Despite shaking her head and tying to talk sense into her new genetic contribution, the women ignored her and managed to get the man into the cart they settled into.

"Fuck. What the hell? He's not that important, not if his weight slows us down." Screeching a bit and not caring that it seemed to bother the others, Jadoe ran to the sides of the carts and brought up the thin aluminum sheets that attached to poles she pulled up from the sides of her carts. It would cover the carts and the horses but it would do nothing if the wind continued to pick up and slant the deadly fluid under the metal. She ran up to Rekka, cursed when she spooked the mare, and wound up mounting without managing to calm her.

It didn't take more than a light tap on the mare's sides to get her moving rapidly. Wreck-it followed Rekka, sidestepping the potholes that she did, occasionally prancing and partly rearing. The sound of vegetation beginning to dissolve under the fall of acid rain that was getting closer didn't was probably a quarter of mile behind them, but so much was being destroyed that it made the destruction seem closer. It was going to over take them, they were still roughly half an hour away at the speed they were traveling and if Jadoe could keep the horses calm through the rain, it would take even longer.

" _Do any of you know how to ride?"_

 _A_ red headed woman nodded. " _Good, I need you to get up on the other horse. The rain will overtake us and he needs a rider to help him remain calm or we'll have to leave that cart and mount behind."_ The woman jumped out of the cart and swiftly mounted Wreck-it with a speed and agility that indicated she was a proficient rider. That would help; the animal was so distracted by the noise and smell around them that he would respond well to a skilled rider.

When the rain finally overtook them, most of the group let out a distressed noise. The sound of rain hitting the metal was something the horses had been trained to hear, but the hissing and panicked sounds of animals fleeing ahead of the rain or attempting to burrow to safety was a cacophony of noise they'd never been subjected to before. The smell of burned flesh was soon over powering. Most took any loose fabric they had and covered the lower half of their faces; it did little to help.

Fifteen minutes from safety, the wind caught up to the leading edge of the storm and began gusting rain horizontally under the metal covers. The babe was well protected by one of the women, but the other child would occasionally cry out when splashes of the acid rain managed to splatter on him. The adults bore down on the pain; if they didn't stay calm and move forward, they would die. The two riding had to fight to keep the horses from bolting in a panic.

The vines hiding the plate to the bunker was completely burned away by the time they finally got to it. Jadoe took a cloth and hastily wiped it off before quickly pressing her palm to the plate. Her hand burned for a second but it took a very small amount of time for the system to read it. The doors swung open and Jadoe ushered the horses inside. Another palm reading had the doors slamming shut.

She pulled a keyboard out of the wall and initiated a tentative nuclear fall out protocol. Air would be pumped in from the compound and the doors would remain sealed on a timer for a month until the protocol had been retracted or extended. Finished with that necessity, Jadoe began to strip out of her clothes. She had no way of knowing if any of her outer clothes had droplets of acid rain on them that would eventually eat through the fabric down to her skin.

She could hear the other women following suit, though they were whispering nervously to each other. Down to her bra and underwear, Jadoe ran to the cart and started carefully pulling damaged goods away from the untouched items. The first aid kit had remained remarkably undamaged, so she pulled out a cream that would stop the spread of acid and soothe the pain from the injuries they'd all suffered. Squeezing a generous amount onto her palm, Jadoe tossed the tube to the others. " _Put this on your wounds. It will stop the spread and ease some of the pain."_

The red head nodded, and Jadoe sighed. They were probably freaked out about the technology. It was probably going to be a problem, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Keeping them peripherally in her sight, Jadoe hooked her arms around the single male they'd insisted on dragging along, and carefully levered him onto the floor.

He had old acid wounds, newer acid wounds, and what appeared to be sword induced injuries that were very recent and still bleeding. He was going to take so many resources to make sure he lived. She didn't know how much treatment for radiation she or the others were going to need. Jadoe would try and leave him behind.


End file.
